


Wreck My Plans, That's My Man

by thatoneavengingarcher



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - 1930s, Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Character Death, Death, Doctors & Physicians, Engagement, F/M, Nurses & Nursing, Slow Burn, Time Skips, War, When I say "no powers" I only kinda mean it, World War I, World War II, also please don't expect this to accurately depict these time periods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoneavengingarcher/pseuds/thatoneavengingarcher
Summary: A "no powers & period piece" Wanda x Vision AU, starting with past flashbacks and present plot beginning around chapter 5 (tentatively).Wanda Maximoff and Victor Shade happen to work in the same tuberculosis hospital. She's assigned in his staff and finds her boss absolutely insufferable. He gets her as his head nurse and finds her as stubborn as an ox.Time will only tell if their working relationship - or any relationship - will ever improve.No need for any MCU/Comics knowledge, although if you have some it'll make all the "easter eggs" easy to spot, lol. This entire fic is super tentative right now. It may be ten chapters or it may spawn a million spin off series. I'm not sure yet. I'm also putting this out right now because I'm a slut for WandaVision and Vision in his human getup is major inspiration for me actually taking these three year old ideas and turning them into writing.*Working* Title inspired by "Willow" by Taylor SwiftAJ
Relationships: Victor Shade/Original Female Character, Vision/Original Female Character, Wanda Maximoff & Pietro Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff/Victor Shade, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Kudos: 15





	1. Wanda - When You Are Young

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! 
> 
> So this is gonna be one helluva trip, as long as I keep it going. I have a shitload of story planned, I just gotta get it all down. I hope you enjoy! Personally, this couple is my favorite in the comics/mcu because they are just so darn weird and cute! And they translate very well into period pieces (as we already know). 
> 
> Also, I'm not trying THAT hard to make sure the time periods are on point accurate. Like, yeah I know planes weren't used to bomb until 1915, but sue me??? Sorry but this is my fic and I get to choose the unrealistic facts I put in my alternate universe, lol.
> 
> There will definitely be so heavy topics that crop up in this fic, so I'll be sure to tag them when they happen. This is kinda a spoiler for this first chapter, but there is a bombing/deaths that happen, so be warned.
> 
> Love y'all and I hope you'll love this :))
> 
> Chapter title inspired by "Cardigan" by Taylor Swift
> 
> AJ

𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵

𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘪 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥, 𝘚𝘰𝘬𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘢  
1914

It was a beautiful day before the bombs came. The sun set slowly in the west as mothers gathered their children to eat, fathers set plates on the tables, and the bustling capital city of Sokovia settled into an early evening lull. 

The same was occurring in the Maximoff household. Natalya gathered her son and all her nieces and nephews, as her daughter, Wanda, placed dinner on the table. Natalya’s sisters, Devanna and Dodola, rounded up the men of the house and the whole Maximoff family sat crowded around a kitchen table in their small apartment in the two story complex. 

Affording anything bigger than that three bedroom apartment was difficult. Money was tight as it is, but Europe on the brink of war left an uncertain air. It seemed more important to stock up on food than to save money for an extra bedroom one day. But it became abundantly clear that stocking up would take quite a pretty penny itself. With seven kids alone - not including all the adults - dinner was not a cheap task. The Maximoffs were just lucky that Natalya knew how to make a meal stretch. 

“As usual, dinner tastes wonderful,” Peron said to Natalya, the whole table nodding in agreement. 

“Well, credit is due to Wanda. She cooked the vegetables for me,” Natalya said. 

Wanda beamed with pride. It may have sounded cheesy, but she loved helping her mother. Didn’t matter where she helped; laundry, cooking, cleaning, but making a positive difference filled Wanda up with joy. She would do whatever her mother asked of her, as long as it made Natalya happy. Wanda gave her a quick side hug as dinner continued, loud chatter between cousins and siblings, husbands and wives, filling the room. 

“Hey Wanda!” 

Wanda turned as she saw her twin brother, Pietro, call at her from the other side of the table. She nodded her head up, and said, “Yes?” 

“Me and Kershov were wondering if you wanted to go to the field with us tomorrow afternoon? To play catch?” 

Excitement bubbled up in Wanda’s blood. Being the youngest - besides her brother, who easily assimilated into their cousins’ “boys’ club” - Wanda was never invited to go anywhere with them. She figured she’d have to wait ‘til her teens, or even a few months until she was eleven, for them to let her tag along. She never expected to be asked so soon. All Wanda did was nod her head excitedly and Pietro smiled and nodded in return. 

And while all seemed well in the Maximoff household and the many other households in the city of Novi Grad, it was not. In fact, at the very action of bread being passed on the table in the Maximoffs’ apartment in the heart of Novi Grad, bombs were being dropped. The first strikes of World War I were coming, and no one was the wiser. 

Which is why the sounds of tumbling bricks and cracking wood above the Maximoffs’ heads and the sounds of explosions from neighboring blocks were so frightening. They sounded of a machine boring through the floor above them and around them and Natalya yelled, “Get back!” And it was all quite perfect timing as the family pushed their chairs away to see the bomb land directly on their table. 

No, it didn’t go off. It was a defect that must have slipped through. But the very action of wood splintering and walls falling had trapped the Maximoffs facing the very weapon of destruction that almost killed them. 

There was no way out. 

So the poor family sat and watched the bomb in front of them. They studied its every detail, from the minute dent at the tip to the manufacturer - Stark Industries. (Wanda sat facing that name for over twenty-four hours). They held hands, and consoled each other, trying not to move. They wondered who sent the bomb (Germany), what their country’s response was (the Sokovian crown declared war), and what happened to their upstairs neighbors (they died). They prayed furiously that no one would move, that they would be rescued, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

But as night changed to day, to night, and to day again, rescue seemed both immanent and nonexistent. Hunger ravaged the Maximoffs, as their dinner spoiled under the bomb. Their limbs cramped up and lost feeling and no matter how long they closed their eyes, sleep continued to evade them. There was no way to dream when they were living in a nightmare. 

Times were desperate. Wanda noticed her mother slowly turning around to look behind them, where the front door used to be. A small streak of light shone through and they both paused to look at it. Then Natalya pulled Wanda close. 

“Listen, Wanda, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢, I want you to do something very important for me,” she said gravely. 

Wanda nodded, unsure of what her mother would say. 

“I need you to go through that crack in the wood and get us help. Find Marya at Tava Market, alright? Can you do that, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢?” Natalya looked at her daughter nervously and bit her lip. “It’s very important.” 

Wanda was scared. She knew her mother would never tell her to do something dangerous, but she had a bad feeling in her stomach. Wanda didn’t want to cause the bomb to detonate. But she also didn’t want to upset her mother. So, she put on a brave face and nodded. “I can do it, Mama. I’ll find Marya.” 

Natalya put on a smile and hugged her daughter. “𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘦, Wanda.” 

Wanda smiled to show her mother she wasn’t scared, and she replied, “I love you too. See you soon.” 

And she crawled into the light. 

Finding Marya wasn’t the hardest part of Wanda’s journey, but the crushing anxiety was. As soon as she exited the rubble,Wanda stood outside the building, waiting. She stared at the pile of bricks and wood that her family was cocooned in, waiting for the inevitable to happen. It was like an impending alarm was ticking in Wanda’s chest, counting down to their deaths but never giving an indication as to when. After twenty minutes of terrified watching, Wanda finally tore herself away from the building and put one foot in front of the other until she walked enough of a distance. But bombs were still detonating all over the city and every explosion, no matter how far away, sent Wanda into a state of panic. So she took light steps, and sprinted her way to the market. She found that the sound of wind in her ears helped quiet the explosions and her fears. 

Once at the market, Marya turned out to be quite helpful. Wanda discovered that their block was the next on the city’s list to be checked upon, and that they should be taken care of in the day. 

“Here,” Marya said as she handed Wanda an apple. “For being such a brave little girl.” 

By the time she was walking back to the apartment, Wanda was feeling like a “brave little girl.” She hadn’t heard explosions for a while, and her breathing was back down to regular intervals. As she walked along the broken street and next to hollowed out homes, Wanda noticed something peculiar. A group of crows - a murder - followed her from above. It was small at first, but soon enough a group of roughly twelve was following her from behind. Wanda was so engrossed in seeing the birds, that she didn’t even notice the thick black smoke in the sky. 

Or the fact that her apartment building was a smoking husk.

Or the fact that emergency crews were bagging up something in the street.

But Wanda finally did tear her eyes from the birds when she stumbled over her twin brother’s dead body, and found her eyes searching through the twelve bodies (or bags) that laid out before her building.


	2. Victor - My Pain Fits in the Palm of Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn of the origins of Victor Shade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> I hope you like the fic so far! I promise, we'll be getting to the actual plot soon. I just wanted to set up some important backstory to set the stage for the rest of the work. Plus I'm a sucker for a good flashback. 
> 
> Also, this is a very collaborative work, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!! I want to read the room and see what y'all think. And this fic will be heavily influenced by whatever's going on in the newest WandaVision episode, so be prepared for that too, lol. 
> 
> Chapter title inspired by "Ivy" by Taylor Swift
> 
> Please enjoy!
> 
> AJ

𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 

𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥  
1900

The Herringshire Shipping Company was going belly up, and Armitage Herringshire found his young family swimming in debt. 

See, the problem started when his father died. He left the company to twenty year old Armitage and made him the sole heir of the multimillion dollar fortune. Armitage assumed the job of overseeing departures across the Atlantic and cemented HSC as the best in transatlantic shipping. 

At first, the company provided marvelous wealth for Armitage - he could spoil his wife, Gwendoline, and their newborn son. Lavish parties were hosted at their newly acquired estate. Maids and cooks tended to the chores while Gwendoline kicked her feet up on the couch. And Armitage enjoyed the social status he now finally held. 

The best part of all, it seemed, was his business partner. Benjamin Fields was a twenty year insider that knew the shipping world through and through. Long ago, he partnered with Armitage’s father, and now he continued his work with Armitage himself. Benjamin took care of most finances and office work that all Armitage needed to do was approve the shipments. It all seemed too good to be true. 

But money began to go missing. 

Payments for transports were going to a different account. 

By the time Armitage noticed anything wrong at all, the Herringshire Shipping Company was a hundred thousand dollars in debt and Benjamin Fields was in Italy with his young fiancée. And all this was why Gwendoline Herringshire hugged her baby tight as she sat on the steps of St. John’s Home for Unwanted Boys and contemplated her next steps. 

The baby was a fussy one. He cried loudly in Gwendoline’s arms, and she looked around and hoped no one would hear in the dead of night. “Shh, shh,” she softly said, stroking his tufts of blonde hair in order to soothe him. The baby almost seemed to know what his mother was planning to do, and it hurt Gwendoline all the more. 

“There were so many things I wanted to do with you, my little one,” she whispered. “I wanted to dance with you in our ballroom. I wanted to see you excel under our tutors. I wanted to watch you grow up, and feel the wistful sadness of knowing your child is a child no more.” 

Gwendoline’s face grew flushed and tight as she continued on with a quaver in her voice. “I wanted to see you fall in love the same way your father fell in love with me. I wanted to see your bright blue eyes shine with knowledge and compassion. I wanted to watch you earn the success you deserve. But I don’t get to see any of that now, do I? Not after what I’m going to do.” 

The second thoughts were creeping in. Logically, Gwendoline knew this was the only way to ensure her son's success. If he stayed with her and Armitage, he’d only suffer a poor man’s life. He’d never get the chance to do what he wished if he were stuck swimming in their familial debt. But by putting him here - in this orphanage, of sorts - at least he had a shot. He’d get a good education, and a guaranteed roof and meal each day. And maybe, he’d get adopted by someone who could give him better opportunities and all the love Gwendoline wished she could give. 

“Promise me you’ll try to find me someday, alright?” Tears streaked down Gwendoline’s face, and she wiped them hastily. “I can promise I’ll try to find you. I’ll look all over London and England and Europe and the whole world and I won’t stop until I see you again. And I’ll hug you and your father will hug you and someday, all will be well.” 

She pulled her son closer and closed her eyes. One last hug. 

Then, Gwendoline swaddled him tighter. She laid him down in a small box, and adjusted the tag she tied around his wrist - 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳. 

“Goodbye, Victor,” she said. She got up, took one last look at her son, and pounded the door knocker. And after tearing herself away from the porch, her heels clicked away on the cobblestones, before her second thoughts could get the best of her. 

*

Rosie Macdonald rubbed her eyes open as awoke to a pounding at the door. As the newest recruit, the nuns had placed her on night duty and she was supposed to keep watch on the outside of the home. 

“I pity the poor soul up at this hour,” she said while rising to the door. As Rosie approached, she noted the peculiar sound of crying coming from outside. She opened the door to find the cause - a small baby sitting on the steps. 

The child was wrapped up in a blanket and set in a box. It’s face was blushed red but by its warmth, Rosie could tell it hadn’t been out in the cold for long. 

“Well, hello there,” Rosie said softly, and the baby immediately calmed. She picked up the box and brought the child into the entryway. There, she took a closer look at it. The first thing she noticed was a small tag. Rosie flipped it over, and smiled. 

“Pleased to meet you, Victor. I’m Rosie, and I have a feeling we'll be spending quite a bit of time together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos/comments below! 
> 
> Thank you for reading :) 
> 
> AJ


End file.
